What are the big five personality factors

What Are The Big 5 Personality Traits?

Many modern and traditional studies in psychology point to 5 basic dimensions of personality. Evidence of this theory has grown over the years with the principle theory emerging in 1949. The five broad personality traits described by the theory are extraversion (also often spelled extroversion), agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.

The five basic personality traits is a theory developed in 1949 by D. W. Fiske (1949) and later expanded upon by other researchers including Norman (1967), Smith (1967), Goldberg (1981), and McCrae & Costa (1987).

Researchers had spent years before trying to pin down character traits as a way of analysing people’s behaviour. At one point, Gordon Allport found over 4000 traits. Even when this was reduced to 16 it was seen as too complicated. This is where the five big personality traits began.

These broad categories have been researched and developed over the years and, whilst there is extensive study into each area, researchers don’t always agree on the definition of each characteristic.

What are the big five personality traits?

Openness

Openness is a characteristic that includes imagination and insight. The world, other people and an eagerness to learn and experience new things is particularly high for this personality trait. It leads to having a broad range of interests and being more adventurous when it comes to decision making.

Creativity also plays a big part in the openness trait; this leads to a greater comfort zone when it comes to abstract and lateral thinking.

Think of that person who’s always ordering the most exotic thing on the menu, going to different places and having interests which you would never have thought of… that is someone who has a high openness trait.

Anyone low in this trait tends to be viewed with more traditional approaches to life and may struggle when it comes to problem solving outside their comfort zone of knowledge.

Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is a trait that includes high levels of thoughtfulness, good impulse control, and goal-directed behaviours. This organised and structured approach is often found within people who work in science and even high-retail finance where detail orientation and organisation are required as a skill set.

A highly conscientious person will regularly plan ahead and analyse their own behaviour to see how it affects others. Project management teams and HR departments regularly have highly conscientious people working in their teams to help balance out the structural roles within the overall team development.

A good example of a conscientious person would be someone you know who is always planning ahead for the next time you meet - and in the meantime, regularly staying in contact, checking in on your wellbeing. They like to organise around certain dates and events and are focused on you when you meet.

People low in conscientiousness tend to dislike structure and schedules, procrastinate on important tasks and fail to complete tasks as well.

Extraversion

Extraversion (sometimes referred to as Extroversion) is a trait that many will have come across in their own lives. It’s easily identifiable and widely recognisable as “someone who gets energised in the company of others.”

This, amongst other traits which include, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness, have made extraverted people widely recognisable over many years of social interaction.

We all have that one friend or family member - or several - who aren’t exactly wall flowers in a social interaction. They thrive on being the centre of attention, enjoy meeting new people and somehow tend to have the biggest friends and acquaintance group you have known.

The opposite is, of course, someone else in our lives we may know, an introvert. They prefer solitude and have less energy in social situations. Being at the centre of attention or making small talk can be quite taxing.

Extroverts tend to have very public facing roles including areas such as sales, marketing, teaching and politics. Seen as leaders, extroverted people will be more likely to lead than stand in the crowd and be seen to not be doing anything.

Agreeableness

People who exhibit high agreeableness will show signs of trust, altruism, kindness, and affection. Highly agreeable people tend to have high prosocial behaviours which means that they’re more inclined to be helping other people.

Sharing, comforting and cooperating are traits that lend themselves to highly agreeable personality types. Empathy towards others is commonly understood as another form of agreeableness even if the term doesn’t quite fit.

The opposite to agreeableness is disagreeableness but it manifests in behaviour traits that are socially unpleasant. Manipulation and nastiness towards others, a lack of caring or sympathy, a lack of taking interest in others and their problems are all quite common.

Agreeable people tend to find careers in areas where they can help the most. Charity workers, medicine, mental health and even those who volunteer in soup kitchens and dedicate time to the third sector (social studies) are high in the agreeableness chart.

Neuroticism

Neuroticism is characterised by sadness, moodiness, and emotional instability. Often mistaken for anti-social behaviour, or worse a greater psychological issue, neuroticism is a physical and emotional response to stress and perceived threats in someone’s daily life.

Individuals who exhibit high levels of neuroticism will tend to experience mood swings, anxiety and irritability. Some individuals who experience sudden changes in character from a day-to-day perspective could be highly neurotic and respond to high stress levels in their work and personal lives.

Anxiety, which plays a large part in the makeup of neuroticism, is about an individual's ability to cope with stress and perceived or actual risk. People who suffer with neuroticism will overthink a lot of situations and find difficulty in relaxing even in their own space.

Of course, those who rank lower on the neurotic level will exhibit a more stable and emotionally resilient attitude to stress and situations. Low neurotic sufferers also rarely feel sad or depressed, taking the time to focus on the present moment and not get involved in mental arithmetic on possible stress-inducing factors.

Who developed the big 5 personality traits?

Originally developed in 1949, the big 5 personality traits is a theory established by D. W. Fiske and later expanded upon by other researchers including Norman (1967), Smith (1967), Goldberg (1981), and McCrae & Costa (1987).

It’s suggested that as early the late 19th century social psychologists were trying to gain a more scientific understanding of personality but it wasn’t until the first official study in the 1930s by Gordon Allport and Henry Odbert that personality had some sort of scientific acknowledgement. They took 18,000 words from Webster’s Dictionary to describe personality traits and found adjectives that described non-physical characteristics creating a 4500 word bank of observable behaviour markers.

Later studies were able to identify many overlaps and specific traits per person which has allowed a more condensed and comprehensive review of personality traits. The big 5 are still widely used today as the basis of global study.

What factors influence the big 5 traits?

From nature and nurture to age and maturation, the big 5 traits have been widely studied where we can see what influences their impact on a person’s behaviour and character.

Personality has often been hypothesised as a question of nurture or nature. One particular study looked at 123 pairs of identical twins and 127 pairs of fraternal twins. “The findings suggested that the heritability of each trait was 53 percent for extraversion, 41 percent for agreeableness, 44 percent for conscientiousness, 41 percent for neuroticism, and 61 percent for openness.”

It has also been widely recognised that the older we get, the more our behaviour traits will change. We become less extraverted, less neurotic, and less open to new experiences whilst our agreeableness and conscientiousness will grow as we get older.

Do men and women differ with the big 5 traits?

The general consensus is that men and women are actually more alike than what normative social science would have us believe. But as the title would suggest, there are some exceptions.

Weinsberg and DeYoung in 2011 studied the big 5 traits and in particular Gender Differences in Personality across the Ten Aspects of the Big Five. They concluded that women tend to score higher on Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism than men.

Other studies have concluded that whilst the differences may be present, some traits are not extensively separate. Getting older will tend to align behaviour traits such as agreeableness and extraversion where both genders tend to score lower as time moves on.

Big 5 personality traits tests

We can successfully measure personality traits with different tools and techniques. All in all, these tests are trying to discover how much your behaviour varies from high to low in the five traits which include; Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism.

How are the traits measured?

Traditionally, a big 5 personality test is taken with a questionnaire and a multiple choice response.

For example, these questions will ask how much a person agrees or disagrees that he or she is someone who exemplifies various specific statements, such as:

“Is open to trying new experiences” (for openness, or open-mindedness)
“Is always thinking about others” (for conscientiousness)
“Is the centre of attention at a party” (for extroversion)
“Is trusting of others” (for agreeableness)
“Is anxious about the future all the time” (for neuroticism, or negative emotionality)

The responses, Strongly agree to Strongly Disagree (with alternatives in between) will determine to what scale the person may be grouped into different personality traits.

Are big five personality tests reliable?

Assessments based on the big 5 personality tests are very reliable, provided that sufficient research has been carried out and substantiated.

It is, to date, the most scientifically validated and reliable psychological model to measure personality. It is used to help predict behaviour as well as personality.

It remains a dependable model that businesses and scientific studies have been able to use consistently over a long period of time in helping to create new models, which predict someone’s behaviour at work, response to stressful situations and even understanding aspects of recorded social studies.

How do the big five personality traits predict behaviour at work?

When hiring employees (or testing current ones), the big 5 personality traits help us understand behaviour in the workplace and accurately predict, in many cases, future performance. Each personality type will have an impact within the working environment and amongst other staff. Being able to identify where there could be a positive or negative impact can help influence decisions around hiring or retaining staff.

A candidate with a high openness score would be willing to learn new skills and tools. Presented with more abstract problems, they are more likely to think of abstract solutions and would be focused on tackling new problems that were perhaps previously overlooked.

Candidates with a high conscientiousness score wouldn’t necessarily be sat at their desk until midnight every evening! They would however be keen to get their work done, meet deadlines and be a self-starter; requiring little hand-holding to get the task done. Someone scoring low on the other hand, would need a lot more focus, time and attention to the task at hand.

The ideal extraversion scores would depend on the role you’re hiring for. Seen by many to be leaders in a team, a high extraversion score would do well in environments where they thrive off interaction with others:; sales, marketing & PR all require a level of people- facing skills. More technical job setups where specific focus or a degree of isolation is needed would, however, not be a good fit.

A candidate who shows high agreeableness would suit a role where personal skills and an ability to be at the service of others are needed. Of course, the opposite would be bad in a strong team environment and cause significant issues in order to work towards a common goal or task.

Finally, a candidate who exhibits high neuroticism will not be suited to a role where there are consistent changes, tasks that require strong self-starter tendencies or high stress levels. Those with low neuroticism scores will, however, thrive in these kinds of workplace scenarios.

These traits help us to understand how we may behave in the future, in our workplace and under certain circumstances as. For businesses, they can identify future talent, derailers and even potential for success.

How can Thomas help you find the right person for your role?

The Thomas Workplace Personality Test covers areas of personality testing based on Big 5 theory. Also known as the High Potential Trait Indicator (or HPTI), it provides valuable insight into a person's strengths and potential derailers, including their leadership potential.

Developed by Ian MacRae and Adrian Furnham in 2006, the HPTI has been designed based on an ‘optimality’ model, which assumes that personality traits can be considered ‘optimal’ based on the requirements of a particular job role or position, such as senior executive leadership.

Based on a self-report questionnaire, the answers have 7 levels of agreement on a 1-7 Likert scale (1 ‘disagree completely’ to 7 ‘agree completely) with 78 unique items, and the test takes as little as 8 minutes to complete.

If you are interested in finding out more about how our Workplace Personality assessment can help you and your business, please speak to one of our team.

Big 5 Personality Traits | Psychology Today

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff

The differences between people’s personalities can be broken down in terms of five major traits—often called the “Big Five.” Each one reflects a key part of how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. The Big Five traits are:

Openness to experience (includes aspects such as intellectual curiosity and creative imagination)
Conscientiousness (organization, productiveness, responsibility)
Extroversion (sociability, assertiveness; its opposite is Introversion)
Agreeableness (compassion, respectfulness, trust in others)
Neuroticism (tendencies toward anxiety and depression)

Individual personalities are thought to feature each of these five broad traits to some degree. When the traits are measured, some people rate higher and others rate lower: Someone can be more conscientious and less agreeable than most people, for instance, while scoring about average on the other traits. These traits remain fairly stable during adulthood.

People can also differ on the more specific facets that make up each of the Big Five traits. A relatively extroverted person might be highly sociable but not especially assertive.

The five-factor model is widely used by personality researchers, but it is not the only model. A more recently introduced six-factor model known as HEXACO adds the factor of honesty-humility to the original five traits.

Measuring the Big Five
Why the Big Five Matter
Other Personality Tests

How the Big Five Personality Traits Are Measured

The Big Five traits are typically assessed using one of multiple questionnaires. While these tests vary in the exact terms they use for each trait, they essentially cover the same broad dimensions, providing high-to-low scores on each: openness to experience (also called open-mindedness or just openness), conscientiousness, extroversion (the reverse of which is introversion), agreeableness, and neuroticism (sometimes negative emotionality or emotional stability).

One test, the latest version of the Big Five Inventory, asks how much a person agrees or disagrees that he or she is someone who exemplifies various specific statements, such as:

“Is curious about many different things” (for openness, or open-mindedness)
“Is systematic, likes to keep things in order” (for conscientiousness)
“Is outgoing, sociable” (for extroversion)
“Is compassionate, has a soft heart” (for agreeableness)
“Is moody, has up and down mood swings” (for neuroticism, or negative emotionality)

Based on a person’s ratings for dozens of these statements (or fewer, for other tests), an average score can be calculated for each of the five traits.

What does your score on the Big Five tell you?

Scores on a Big Five questionnaire provide a sense of how low or high a person rates on a continuum for each trait. Comparing those scores to a large sample of test takers—as some online tests do—offers a picture of how open, conscientious, extroverted (or introverted), agreeable, and neurotic one is relative to others.

How were the Big Five traits determined?

Analyzing English words used to describe personality traits, researchers used statistical techniques to identify clusters of related characteristics. This led to a small number of overarching trait dimensions that personality psychologists have scientifically tested in large population samples.

Who developed the Big Five personality traits?

The Big Five were not determined by any one person—they have roots in the work of various researchers going back to the 1930s. In 1961, Ernest Tupes and Raymond Christal identified five personality factors that others would reanalyze and rename. Lewis Goldberg used the term Big Five in 1981 to describe these broad factors.

Do Big Five tests measure more specific traits?

Some Big Five questionnaires break the five main traits down into smaller sub-components or “facets,” which are correlated with each other but can be independently measured. In the Big Five Inventory, for instance, “sociability” and “assertiveness” are distinct facets of extroversion, while “organization” and “responsibility” are facets of conscientiousness.

Why the Big Five Personality Traits Are Important

The five-factor model not only helps people better understand how they compare to others and to put names to their characteristics. It’s also used to explore relationships between personality and many other life indicators. These include consequential outcomes such as physical health and well-being as well as success in social, academic, and professional contexts. Personality psychologists have observed reliable associations between how people rate on trait scales and how they fare or feel, on average, in various aspects of their lives.

What can Big Five scores tell us about other outcomes?

Quite a lot, at least in Western samples. There is reliable evidence, for example, that extroversion is associated with subjective well-being, neuroticism with lower work commitment, and agreeableness with religiousness. Certain traits have been linked to mortality risk. However, these are overall patterns and don’t mean that a trait necessarily causes any of these outcomes.

Can Big Five personality traits change?

Yes. While personality trait measures tend to be fairly consistent over short periods of time in adulthood, they do change over the course of a lifetime. There’s also reason to believe that deliberate personality change is possible.

The Big Five and Other Personality Tests

Various ways of representing major traits have been proposed, and personality researchers continue to disagree on the number of distinct characteristics that can be measured. The five-factor model dominates the rest, as far as psychologists are concerned, although multiple types of assessments exist to measure the five traits.

Outside of academic psychology, tests that aim to sort people into personality types—including the Myers-Briggs/MBTI and Enneagram—are highly popular, though many experts take issue with such tests on scientific grounds. The five-factor model has conceptual and empirical strengths that others lack.

How do Big Five tests compare to the Myers-Briggs?

For a number of reasons, many personality psychologists consider Big Five tests superior to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. These include concerns about the reliability of the types assigned by the Myers-Briggs and the validity of the test—though there is some overlap between its dimensions (which include extroversion-introversion) and the Big Five.

Do the Big Five capture personality types?

It depends on how strictly you define a “type.” Research indicates that for any given trait, people fall at various points along a continuum rather than fitting neatly into categories. While some identify wholeheartedly as a total extrovert or introvert, for example, there are many shades in between, and most of us would score somewhere in the middle.

Do Big Five tests have known limitations?

Yes. Some have criticized the five-factor model for its origins in data rather than in theory and argued that it does not encompass all fundamental traits (see HEXACO). There is also evidence that current tests provide less reliable results outside of Western, industrialized countries.

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"Big Five": what qualities really define our character

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One of the few psychological concepts whose personality tests can be trusted.

What is the essence of the Big Five? These include extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. These characteristics, to varying degrees, may or may not be inherent in any personality, and they can also be measured. However, they do not affect each other and are not interconnected in any way.

The first such classifications were developed in ancient times - for example, Hippocrates' theory of temperament. Later, the Carl Jung model, socionics and typology Myers-Briggs (MBTI) appeared.

These concepts have always been very popular, as they have been used by scientists to explain why people behave differently and how it affects their lives. They tried to answer questions about what qualities a leader should have, what makes some people psychologically more stable, or how temperament affects physical health.

However, today ^{M. Gerlach, B. Farb, W. Revelle et al. is considered to be the most complete and accurate description of human character. A robust data-driven approach identifies four personality types across four large data sets / Nature Human Behavior is precisely the five-factor model, or the Big Five.}

Created by ^{N. Westerhoff. The "Big Five" Personality Traits / Scientific American two groups of American psychologists in the 1970s. They interviewed thousands of people and came to the conclusion that it is possible to determine a person's temperament using the indicators listed above.}

To understand how these qualities are developed in each individual, psychologists have developed special tests. They don't have right or wrong answers. The participant is asked to compare his character with the descriptions of the personality or answer how close the presented statements are to him.

Based on this, it turns out how strongly each of the qualities of the big five is developed in a person. You can take these tests too - here are the short and long questionnaires.

What are the Big Five

1.

Extraversion

In fact, extraversion is not only sociability. This figure reflects ^{J. V. Fayard. How to (Accurately) Measure Your Personality / Psychology Today, how sociable, cheerful, proactive, independent a person is. Is he able to finish what he started and is he ready for adventure. In general, this characteristic indicates how active an individual lives.}

People with low extraversion tend to be introverted and more inclined to obey authority. They may also have problems with abstract thinking. Those who score high are sociable, assertive and tend to become leaders more often.

At the same time, extroverts and introverts in their pure form practically do not exist ^{R.R. McRae, A. Terracciano, P.T. Costa et al. Person-factors in the California Adult Q-Set: closing the door on personality trait types? / European Journal of Personality. The vast majority of people on the test will score somewhere in the middle between these extremes - this is commonly referred to as the ^{Ambivert / Cambridge Dictionary.}}

2. Openness

This characteristic shows how open a person is to new experiences, and it can also serve as a measure of creativity. People with a low level of openness are usually more committed to traditions, they clearly distinguish between “right” and “wrong” for themselves, they tolerate the routine more easily or even prefer it. Those who are very open, on the contrary, do not accept monotony, are more curious, and they like to invent new ways to solve problems.

3. Kindness

This sign shows how we relate to other people, how much we trust them, how often we show sensitivity and warmth - a sort of measure of good nature. The most benevolent people are more likely to adhere to religious beliefs. They try to avoid conflict and help others. Those who are shy, suspicious, or self-centered tend to score low in this category.

4. Conscientiousness

This parameter helps to understand how organized a person is. A high level of conscientiousness is observed in those who are motivated, disciplined, productive, responsible. These people love order in everything. They usually plan ahead and take care not to break the promise. Therefore, they are more likely to be trusted. Low scores in this category go to irresponsible and easily distracted individuals.

Also study ^{M. Jokela, J. Airaksinen, M. Virtanen, et al. Personality, disability‑free life years, and life expectancy: Individual participant meta‑analysis of 131,195 individuals from 10 cohort studies / Journal of personality by Finnish psychologists found that people with low scores in this category had a 14% higher mortality rate. As scientists say, the reason for this is the inability to control oneself and the general irresponsibility. They push a person onto the path of self-destruction.}

5. Neuroticism

This indicator measures a person's emotional stability. A high level of neuroticism is observed in anxious, inhibited, moody or insecure people. They react more strongly to failures and life shocks, often suffer from low self-esteem. Those who score low in this category are calm, satisfied with life, and self-confident.

What are the advantages of the Big Five

Reliability and accuracy

The main advantage of the Big Five is that ^{Big 5 Personality Traits / Psychology Today, that it is better formulated than all personality typologies from a methodological point of view. And also confirmed experimentally.}

Researchers emphasize ^{M. Gerlach, B. Farb, W. Revelle et al. A robust data-driven approach identifies four personality types across four large data sets / Nature Human Behavior, that the characteristics of the Big Five are formulated most accurately and clearly and can be fixed when passing tests again. Such reliability of results, for example, is impossible ^{A. Grant. Goodbye to MBTI, the Fad That Won't Die / Psychology Today is achieved using the famous Myers-Briggs (MBTI) typology.}}

Universality

The "Big Five" demonstrates that attempts to create some kind of classification of human characters or personality types are most likely futile. Especially if in them any trait of temperament can take only one of two positions.

In addition, the behavior of each individual may ^{Big 5 Personality Traits / Psychology Today vary within one of the characteristics. For example, he can be sociable but not very assertive, although both of these qualities are related to extraversion. Some questionnaires take into account ^{J. V. Fayard. How to (Accurately) Measure Your Personality / Psychology Today breaks down the characteristics into smaller components.}}

We also need to understand that sometimes we can consciously and not really change our behavior depending on the circumstances or environment - for example, we communicate differently in different companies.

Practical benefits

The Big Five can be useful for ^{Big 5 Personality Traits / Psychology Today both for ordinary people and for researchers of the human psyche. First, it helps to better understand yourself and characterize your personality. The second is interested in how our temperament can be associated with physical health, financial well-being, social and professional success.}

Thus, psychologists say that there is a strong connection between what results a person receives on a five-factor scale, and his self-perception.

For example, already with great certainty you can ^{C.J. soto. How replicable are the links between personality traits and consequential life outcomes? The Life Outcomes Of Personality Replication Project / Psychological Science says that people with high extraversion feel more prosperous. And those who are emotionally less stable are also less productive. True, all these data only show a statistical pattern.}

The other side of the Big Five research is looking at what factors influence personality development. So, Canadian scientists analyzed ^{K.L. Jang, W.J. Livesley, P.A. Vernon. Heritability of the Big Five Personality Dimensions and Their Facets: A Twin Study / Journal of personality test data of several hundred pairs of twins and came to the conclusion that our character is equally shaped by heredity and environment.}

And work ^{1. M.B. Donnellan, R.E. Lucas. Age differences in the Big Five across the life span: evidence from two national samples / Psychology and aging
2. B.W. Roberts, K.E. Walton, W. Viechtbauer. Patterns of mean‑level change in personality traits across the life course: a meta‑analysis of longitudinal studies / Psychological bulletin with the Big Five indicators helped to understand how the character of people changes over time. So, with age, we basically become less sociable, less likely to want to change something. But at the same time we become more good-natured and more stable emotionally.}

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Why people get more conservative with age

Despite its popularity, the Big Five is not the only measure of character. For example, there is a six-factor model of personality, also known as HEXACO ^{HEXACO / Psychology Today. In it, in addition to the five traits, the parameter of honesty - modesty is added: how much a person is ready to promote his selfish goals.}

Some psychologists have criticized the Big Five for not doing enough theory and blindly following the data. There is also evidence ^{1. M. Gurven, C. von Rueden, M. Massenkoff et al. How Universal Is the Big Five? Testing the Five‑Factor Model of Personality Variation Among Forager–Farmers in the Bolivian Amazon / Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
2. R. Laajaj, K. Macours, D.A.P. Hernandez et al. Challenges to capture the big five personality traits in non‑WEIRD populations / Science Advances that outside of industrialized Western countries, the Big Five questionnaires are less reliable.}

However, this concept remains dominant and has shown ^{D.P. Schmitt, J. Allik, R.R. McCrae et al. The Geographic Distribution of Big Five Personality Traits: Patterns and Profiles of Human Self-Description Across 56 Nations / Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology to be effective in 56 different cultures. Therefore, the Big Five is a reliable and effective tool for understanding our minds.}

What are the big five personality traits and what are their characteristics

You may have heard of the big five or the five-factor model of personality. When the character of each person can be determined on the basis of the corresponding five basic characteristics. These are extraversion, benevolence (friendliness, ability to compromise), conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience (intelligence).

Instead of classifying personalities into types, as was done in the past, the big five helps create individual personality profiles.

In this article:

How Psychology Discovered the 5 Factors The Personality Traits of the OCEAN Model The Influence of Genes on Personality A Characteristic Leading to Success The Five Factor Model Is Reflected in Career Choice

How Psychology Discovered the 5 Factors

Even the ancient Greeks attempted to systematically capture human personality.

Photo by cottonbro: Pexels

The theory of the four elements is, so to speak, the ancient forerunner of the big five, which assigns certain types to people based on the "elements" of water, fire, air and earth.

The Five Factor Model of Personality in its current form dates back to the 1930s, when various British and American researchers first applied the lexical approach. Others include psychologist Raymond Bernard Cattell and, in 1936, Gordon Allport and Henry Sebastian Odbert, who compiled a list of 18,000 adjectives.

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The idea behind this is that human language develops special terms for all personal characteristics that are important, interesting or useful in any way. Over the decades, this list was reduced to 4,500 adjectives, later to 16 (Kettell, 16 PF = 16 personality factors) and finally to five personality factors (Paul Costa and Robert McCray).

They make up every person, no matter what statistical methods, what survey tools are used, or in what cultural area the test is taken.

Big five. Theory of personality. Psychology.

The term "big five" goes back to the American researcher Lewis Goldberg, who continued lexical research. In the nineties, various European personality researchers began to apply this structure to their language.

OCEAN Personality Model

The Big Five is by far the most documented and studied model of personality research. In the English-speaking world, two acronyms are formed from the first letters of personality traits - either CANOE or the more common OCEAN, which is why the five personality factors are also called the OCEAN model.

So the big five and personality traits might seem a bit complicated. Hence the detailed explanations of individual properties:

Giphy

Openness to experience

People with high values of openness often state that they have a vivid imagination, are clearly aware of their own feelings - positive and negative - and are interested in many personal and social activities.

They describe themselves like this:

inquisitive;
curious;
intelligent;
shaped;
ready to experiment;
artistically gifted.

People of this nature are more likely to critically question existing norms and respond to new social, ethical and political values. They are independent in their judgments, often act out of the box, try new ways of behaving, and prefer variety.

On the other hand, there is conservatism and caution. Such people prefer what is known and verified.